HDDRUTIL: The new menu item "Check Boot Sector" checks whether a partition is compatible with the currently running operating system and the current XHDI limits. It displays the boot sector parameters and, in brackets, the limits. Parameters that are not compatible with the limits are displayed disabled. Affected partitions may require a newer version of TOS or software like Big-DOS in order to be usable.

HDDRIVER: Up to 15% higher IDE transfer rates compared to all previous versions.

HDDRIVER: Faster byte-swapping.

HDDRIVER: The SCSI Driver does not convert the ATAPI/SATA packet commands READ/WRITE (6) to READ/WRITE (10) anymore. These commands are now passed through unchanged.

HDDRIVER: Further size optimizations. HDDRIVER 10 is the most compact HDDRIVER since HDDRIVER 6.

HDDRIVER: Timeouts are now dynamically calculated, based on the number of bytes to be transferred.

HDDRIVER: Support for UEFI GUID partition tables (GPT), for details see the README file and the HDDRIVER forum.

HDDRIVER/HDDRUTIL: Support for the "Reduced Block Commands" command set (RBC), for devices with limited features.

HDDRIVER/HDDRUTIL: HDDRIVER.SYS can be installed in Alternate RAM by enabling the corresponding option in the "File->Preferences" dialog. This in particular makes sense for Ataris with Fast RAM and IDE interface, in order to increase the IDE transfer rate. Additionally, it saves ST-RAM. Note that hard disk drivers that reside in Alternate RAM cannot be booted from the ACSI bus.